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let me finish tonight with this. this sunday is the occasion for my other interest in life, the first is politics and how this country should be run and what it should be in the world, actually. my other interest is movies. i try to see the good one answers root for them on academy award night. i will be doing it this sunday. i think the thing about the academy awards is watching talent win out. i'm talking about the directors, writers and actors that stick their neck out on project that nobody else wants it make. silver lining play book i guess might have hard time against

"lincoln." that's "hardball" for now. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts now. thanks for tuning in. tonight's lead, prospect or failure. remember this? this is when mitt romney announced paul ryan as his running mate. in norfolk, virginia, what a visual, what a team. the pro military duo. now neither man actually served in the military. but the gop was desperate to cling to its reputation as the party of national security. just four days earlier, the uss abraham lincoln aircraft carrier arrived in that same port for a massive overhaul. including upgrades to its nuclear reactors. but now, those repairs have stalled. the pentagon has stopped the upgrade indefinitely. because of next week's

catastrophic budget cuts, that republicans refuse to stop on tuesday, president obama will head to that navy yard, navy shipyard. after republicans have their hypocrisy. the gop for this disaster in the making, and cuts that will start next friday will hurt our recovery and cost up to 700 thousand jobs. >> it has become clear that the cuts would have an adverse impact on families, on teachers, and parents who rely on head start programs. on our military readiness. on mental health services. on medical research. this is not smart way for us to reduce the deficit. >> not smart? >> the president was just being

gracious. these cuts are crazy. not republicans are not letting them happen. especially to protect the rich. the american people don't want any of these cuts that are about to kick in next friday. 80% of spending cuts on education, just 10% want the cut. 83% oppose spending cuts for food and drug inspections. just 14% want them. and 81% oppose spending cuts for roads and infrastructure. just 17% want them. it's simple. americans like their teachers teaching, their roads paved and their food safe. and they are willing to raise taxes on the rich to protect these things. republicans better get on board with that or get out of the way. joining me now, melissa

harris-perry and e.j. dionne. thank you both for coming on shot tonight. >> good to be with you. >> listen, the parents has the upperhand politically but the republicans haven't been moved. what is going to happen? >> if you think about what we're looking at with this sequester versus what the president laid out in the state of the union, just two weeks ago, right, when he lays out a vision for building our infrastructure, building our roads, keeping the nation's safe and here you have republicanes who are willing, not just to make budget cuts, that's what they long said, but they are willing at this point to do it with a hatchet, with a chainsaw, right? no reasonable, like expectation of actually looking at what can go and what can stay and how much we need. but simply going in and lopping it off. >> e.j., when you see the confusion, let me give you an example, senator hatch, he really showcases the gop confusion because on one hand he

says to the tribune, i'm for sequestration, hatch said. we've got to face the music now or it will be much tougher later. but check out what he said in the very next paragraph. hatch said sequestration would lead to an economic disaster in utah. he said it would be devastating to our nation's readiness. now how can republicans be for something they think will be an economic disaster, e.j.? >> you're asking me to explain that statement? if you shorten the quota, it would sound like i'm for disaster. this is a very weird situation where in the sequester cuts were made to be so bad and dumb that we would never go through with them. but apparently they weren't bad or dumb enough. and i think there's a real problem in the argument that republicans are making underneath this which is they are saying, well, we dealt with tax increases at the end of last

year. that's it for tax increases. no. the fact is, we've had way more in cuts already that president obama agreed to, in the $2 trillion range or more. and we have only had $640 billion in revenue. obama says look, reneed at least another, you know, half a -- 500 billion of revenue, and that would still put us at way below what simpson and bowles said we need on revenue and he needs cuts and tax increases and if republicans just agreed to what obama put on the table, they could declare a big victory because the ratio for spending cuts would still be enormous. >> isn't that part of the myth? they say, well, we raised taxes. we gave revenue, but they didn't give the revenue that president had requested. they came in like about 600 something million as e.j. said,

and we needed a lot more revenue than that, even more than what he would have originally asked for. >> i think that's the key. it is not even so much they didn't come in where the president wanted them to be or what president asked for, they didn't come in where the country needed them to be. and part of what -- and i know e.j. knows this and talked about it as well. they are already beginning to close the gap on the deficit. but you know, this narrative is, if the deficit is growing and exploding and out of control, we know two things. one, the main thing that will take care of the deficit is economic growth. as the pie grows, as there are more people working, as those people are paying into the system then the deficit will begin to close. but all of these choices in the sequester will shrink the economy rather than grow it. and the second thing is, policy particularly president's healthcare policy, are already on the road to closing our deficit. to narrowing it and making it smaller because it is going to affect healthcare cost. >> no doubt about it. e.j., when you alluded to that

in your column -- i want it read e.j. to e.j. republicans want it place as much distance between themselves and the 2012 election as they possibly can. from their perspective, the more months we put away on these dumb fake emergencies, the better. as obama's clout slowly dimirnishes, so will his opportunities to pret his priorities. there is always a little personal interaction here, e.j. >> i think is personal, and i also think it has to do with policy and ideas. because every moment we spend -- we're sitting here talking about this fake crises, and it is a fake crisis, when we aught to be talking about other things. like how do we get people back to work, raise equality, upward mobility. i think part of what is going on here is that if we go through with these cuts, we are going to

pull money out of the economy at a moment when we shouldn't be doing that. we haven't -- the economy is on the right path but it is not growing fast enough. and the last thing we need to do right now, is to sort of suck some oxygen out of it. yeah, we can talk about long-term deficit reduction. but let's not do it in a way that going to keep us from growing and therefore, as melissa suggested, ultimately make the problem we have worse. >> now, melissa, i raise the same question president obama, he was on my radio show yesterday, that e.j. addressed, personal, political. let me play for you what the president said he thinks is the reason they are not uniting and trying to protect the country. they are really trying to protect the rich. >> they're basic view is that nothing is important enough to

raise taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations. and they would prefer to see these kinds of cuts that could slow down a recovery over closing tax loop holes, and that's the thing that binds their party together at this point. >> now, they must have struck a nerve. because over at fox news, they went wow and they've been playing, interviewing, and let me show you the response. here is a tape from fox news on their response with what the president said on the radio show. >> the president seems to go back to this. just demonize the opponent repeatedly. he does that often. >> i think this is a classic example of this administration's way of selling this to the american people, is you good out there and fear monger. and every republican is evil, rich and white. and i'm fighting them so be on my team. >> i missed the line where he called every republican rich and

white. >> or evil. . he also -- so the president is -- has proposed, for example, raising minimum wage to $9 an hour, right? something that would create a living wage in this country, and we need to have a national debate about that. congress right now need to talk about, how do we raise minimum wage to $9 an hour. how do we pass common sense gun legislation. how do we rebuild infrastructure in this country so we are not a crumbling empire. but instead of doing any of that, we are talking about whether we will continue to fund our government at the most basic level because of this fake crisis. >> including national security. >> exactly. what you see the president doing over and over again is something we call, keep it obama. he constantly rises above whatever petty or individual things are to try to talk about policies 5e7b this characterization of that sentence or those clear sort of

observations as sort of saying that the republican party is evil, rich and white, that is a projection. the president did not say that. >> maybe it's the way he walks. melissa harris-perry and e.j. dionne, thank you for being here. don't forget to catch melissa harris-perry on saturdays and sundays. how hillary had republicans running scared, even in the deep of the heart of texas. and we join hollywood. oscars sunday night with some politics and some serious issues hitting the red carpet. >> what's your name. >> django. >> and the hot brigade is losing it. bashing the president wasn't good enough for rushing the

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the message on the right for the past four years is that president obama zpt get america. that he apologizes for the country. that he somehow ashamed. >> our president doesn't have the same feelings about american exceptionlism that we do. >> the question of whether or not president obama has apologized for the united states -- >> i wish this president would learn how to be an american. >> the obama administration doesn't understand america. >> and the question plagues obama is not issues or his record or position, is he pro american. >> obama gives speeches, trashing his own country. >> now, limbaugh says the president has been trashing his own country. well now is limbaugh who is doing the trashing.

yesterday he said he was ashamed of america. and today he is not backing down from that statement. >> it makes me ashaemed that we have sunk and distended to this level. in politics, in order for the left to be able to advance, they require ignorance. >> he's ashamed. the american people must be ignorant. and get this, his buddies on the right are backing him up. >> it is embarrassing when the president is a demagogue who goes around the world apologizing for america. >> this is embarrassing. >> listen to what rush said. it's insulting to continue to insult the intelligence of the american people. and i don't have a problem with what he said. look, 51% of the voters elected barack obama. 4% 449% of us are not that stupid. that's what he is saying.

>> language accusing the president of being ashamed of this country. these guys need a wine party. w-h-i-n-e. not w-i-n-e. joining me now is chris hayes. conservatives are just getting how america is changing? >> i think there's an instinct that people have. just average citizens when the election doesn't go your way to be frustrated, angry and angry at the can country and angry at voters who voted him in. i know i felt that way in 2004. when bush was re-elected, i think people felt i'm a left. they felt angry and people made jokes about moving to canada. >> i was still trying to get the recount from 2000. >> right. >> but go ahead. >> as individuals, we all have that feeling. >> right. >> i point i think everyone understands is not an impulse you want to soak.

the important thing about democracy is that sometimes you lose and you just soldier on in the minority and that's just wait it works. >> mike huckabee, let me just use this for an example for my next question. mike huckabee and newt gingrich was on mike huckabee's show, and they were talking about the different president -- how different president obama was from president george washington. listen to what they had to say. >> this is a very different president than our first one. george washington was so adamant that we would not have a king. and i thought, gosh, we've done pretty well until 2008 and now i think we may have ended up with one. >> first of all, washington's desire to be a good citizen, his desire to be a positive force, i think would he look at some of the current she begshenanigans, look at the grotesque sequester

and think it was disgustful. it stood against everything he believed as a citizen. he believed in partisan advantage and not factional skirmishing. >> i mean, you know, in all due respect, newt, that is the biggest bunch of hog wash. first of all, what has this president done that has shown any partisan over the country? he is getting bashed by guys on the left. i disagree with him on drones and other things in afghanistan. you disagree with him. what are they talking about? and how has he operated like a king? then tell me this great analysis, newt, of george washington. i respect he is the first president. but i can give you a whole lot of things that were not noble about the policies of the george washington. >> there is nothing cheaper or easier than to reinanimate the corpse of a beloved historical

figure 240 years after the fact and tell everyone he wouldn't have agreed would present day politics. in some ways, that's not the point. in the way the republican party treated barack obama from the first day is a feeling fundamentally that he is illegitimate. whether it is because of his birth certificate or acorn stole the election or that is before barack obama if a basic conservative view that they are fundamentally the majority of the country and natural order of things is that they run the country and democrats and liberals are minority. and anything other than that is a profound illegitimate expression. >> don't forget herman cain. we are just dumb, stupid and ignorant. what is more offensive to me, the battle over the minimum wage. here we are talking about real

people, real wages. the difference between people being able to bring a respectable income home, regardless of their affiliation. $9 an hour is as reasonable as you can get. many of us want it higher than that and told the president that in a meeting yesterday. but he put out there what he thinks is achievable. they are fighting against that. >> and minimum wage is the perfect example of the republicans being on the wrong side of public opinion and being frustrated and angry about it. minimum wage bills in republican state have passed. minimum wage with republican voters is held high. if you are a republican, there are two options. you tell yourself you're on the right side of american opiniones. and when it turns out you aren't, you have to conclude that people are stupid, people are dumb, people want free handouts and that the place republicans have retreated to. minimum wage is a perfect example of that kind of policy. it drives them crazy because it is against everything they believe in, a. and b, it is very popular. >> 71% of americans support

minimum wage. they are not stupid, they are people that need more income. >> right. >> and i think that it is -- at the end of the day, that if you cannot deal with the needs of the people, then you are the one acting like a king and not in the personal democracy. >> there is a tradition that goes all the way back and manifested at different points in time. i think when conservatives lose two elections in a row, what you see is kind of anti-democratic strain begin to infect their thinking. i think you are seeing this come out. and conservatives want it win elections, they need to nip that in the bud. that does not win you any votes to go around calling people stupid. >> i think that's right. i also think when you look at what we are fighting, when you look at the fact that we're talking about stop the sequester, protect jobs, first responders, even national

security, and they say we're not even going to get close loop holes. we're going to protect yachts and private jet loop holes, what are we talking about? how insulting is it to the american people? oh, that's right. we're ignorant. chris hayes, thanks for coming on the show tonight. come, and don't forget to catch up with chris hayes. saturdays and sundays at 8:00 a.m. still ahead, top republican says hillary clinton could take texas in 2016. and biden is also looking good. how is that white house been looking, senator rubio? and up next, was communist in the white house decades ago? think again. there's a new ted scare. people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain.

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there's a lot of name of-calling in politics these days but doing the scare of the 50s, republican senator took it to a dangerous level.

>> one communist on the faculty of the university is one communist too many even if there is only one communist in the state department. even if there is only one communist in the state department, there will be still be one communist too many. senator joe mccarthy became notorious or falsely accusing a government official of being communist. he was eventually cents # sentenced for his attacks and left washington in disgrace. no modern senator would want to act like mccarthy. or so you would think. the new yorker report that before ted cruz came to congress, he was naming names down in texas. in 2010, cruz was talking to a tea partiers about harvard law school. which he and president obama attended. he said president obama was quote would have made a perfect

president of harvard law school because quote, there were fewer declared republicans in the faculty when we were there than communists. there was one republican but there were 12 who would say they were markists who believed in the communist overthrowing the united states government, end of quote. wow. he compared president obama to someone who want to overturn a government. and he still is lobbing these attacks now that he is in the senate. >> i think president obama is the most radical president we've ever seen. i think an awful lot of republicans fail to stand for principle and contributed to getting us in this mess. >> someone a definitely radical. but it's not the president. senator cruz, are you now or have you ever been even remotely serious about these accusations?

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the old saying goes, don't mess with texas. but hillary clinton could turn the lone star state upside down. that's how the country looks in november of last year. 26 states went blue for president obama. 24 were red for romney. but today, folks in texas are starting to look a little blue, and it's all over hillary. the gop staff predicts if clinton runs for president in 2016 she could turn the solid red state a nice state of purple. he said, and i'm quoting, if she is nominee, i would say that this is a lead republican state, but not a solid republican state. i don't know anyone nationally who is scoffing at this.

the national party leadership is aware and tells me they're taking it seriously. in other words, houston, the gop has a big problem. joining me now, pennsylvania governor ed rendell and maria teresa kumar. governor, led me go to you first. 40 years later, do colorado it go democrat again? >> the demographic make-up of texas, you know, is changing rather dramatically. becoming more and more hispanics. you combine the hispanices with african-americans and working class whites who hillary clinton has appeal to and you saw in the 2008 campaign how she knocked it out of the park with working class whites. she could put together a coalition that could really seriously threaten to take texas. i think it is not out of the question at all. i think that's true for the

louisiana, indiana, and a number of states that are viewed as traditional republican states. i think they are would be in play. i think montana would be in play. >> you think she could take states like that? those are big red states. i concede she's popular but do you think she could sustain that popularity? with states like that, governor? >> sure. i mean, point carried montana once, as you recall, rev. barack obama carried one electoral vote in nebraska. it is not unheard of. and i think as texas continues to change every youfour year increment it could go blue. blue for senator, blue for senate. and i think hillary could do it. she appeals to working class

white woman dramatically so. >> maria, will hispanics overwheove overwhelmingly vote for hillary if she runs. >> she has a brand recognition within latino communities and latinos lead the demographic in the polls. let's go back it texas. reverend, in texas alone you have 3.8 million eligible latino voters. of those 3.8, 2.1r unregistered. you pair that with a lot of single women in texas and you have an incred ill coalition in the likes you haven't seen in texas in a long time. there is an organization down there annie's list, basically the make sake of the former governor from texas, ann richards. they have an incredible pool of not only bringing in money but also pulling in money but also bringing in grass roots organizations. i can tell you if hillary says she tosses her name in the ring, they will activate bringing in funding from local from within texas but from outside the state

to be sure she wins. >> i'm not so sure. >> no? >> vice president biden, there is still speculation that biden could run. and biden, he was yesterday rallying for gun control legislation and talking about the threat of political survival for supporting gun control or look at this. >> i say to my colleagues, who will watch this, listen to this, i say to you, if you're concerned about your political survival, you should be concerned about the survival of our children and guess what, i believe the price to be paid politically to those who refuse to act, who refuse to step forward. >> i mean, he's been a real power broker. he's leading the charge in the push for gun control. he has been instrumental in the budget negotiations. he was the first in the administration to openly support

same-sex marriage. and he lobbied the president for draw downs in iraq and afghanistan. wouldn't biden be a formidable candidate? >> and let's not forget, also a champion for obama care and finding himself in the immigration debate. however, i think what vice president biden is doing is trying to create a legacy. in the likelihood that hillary runs, i doubt he would match himself up against her. however, she decides not to run, i think he is clearing the path for himself to absolutely run. he has an incredible name recognition increasingly among the latino. he went to colorado several times, arizona several times and even texas. all recognizing he is looking for the latino vote. if hillary runs, i don't believe he would throw his hat in the ring. he has plan b of leaving a good strong legacy. >> governor, now i concede

again, that former secretary clinton is very popular. announcing this week she will go out and start speaking. getting $200,000 a speech, even more than for her husband. she is eight point in the polls above marco rubio. six points over jeb bush and paul ryan. nationally, she even is four points over chris christie. but is it a mistake if she does not, in a year or so, come out and deal with issues and not deal with inevitablity which some people felt caught her in '08? >> yeah. there's no question. i think if hillary want to be a candidate for president, she has to come out february or march of next year without any ifs, ands or buts about it. and i think she will. joe biden is a great american

and joe has appeal in many segments of the party in the coalition that builds our party. but in the end, you can't buy history. if hillary clinton runs in 2016, history will be on the line. and secondly, joe biden and hillary clinton basically have the same fund-raising base. if you look at the top hundred biden fund-raisers and the top hundred hillary clinton fund-raisers, basically the same person. and i think those fund-raisers would be with hillary. it is very tough for joe. i sort of agree, if she runs, i don't think he does run. but i also believe there is a legitimate chance that hillary may not run. >> i do too. >> in which case joe biden is doing all the right things. >> governor ed rendell and maria teresa kumar, thanks for your time tonight. have a good weekend. don't forget, this is all speculation. we just got this president re-elected. we have a lot to do with president obama. ahead, we are throwing our

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mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. sunday night, the academy awards. big night for both movie buffs and political junkies. oscars top contenders this year take their story lines from some of the most important and controversial issues of our time. gridlock in washington after the end of the civil war in lincoln, and "argo" is in the middle east. >> civilized war.

>> more than 60 american citizens continue to be held as hostages. >> if we go, then we need to go now. >> in zero dark thirty, the hunt for osama bin laden. >> can i be honest with you? i have bad news. i'm not your friend. i'm not going to help you. i'm going to break you. any questions? >> oscar got political. joining me now is cohost of the cycle of msnbc and executive editor of people magazine. thank you both for being here. >> thank you. >> nice to be here. >> jd, what got into hollywood this year? >> well, you know, it's interesting. it was a great year for movies

and also just an exceptional year for political movies. i think hollywood tends to reflect what is going on in the culture. "lincoln" coming out at the time of obama's reelection. it mirror he where our country was and fascination with politics. something everybody is obsessed with. i think 245 is reflected in the nominees. >> when you look at the reality, i mean, let's look at the fact that when you look at the movie, "argo," in an interview cnn, former president jimmy carter said "argo" is accurate enough. let me play for you what former president carter said. >> 90% of the contributions to the ideas and consummation of the plan was canadian. and the movie gives almost full credit to the american cia. when i left office, i ordained that we would not reveal any american involvement in the process, but to give the canadians full credit for the

entire heroic episode, that prevailed for a number of years afterwards. but i think it is a great film and it tells a dramatic story and i think it is accurate enough. >> to be a great film, does it have to be accurate? don't some of the films take on history? >> does it have to be accurate to be a great film? no. do some of them take liberties with history? absolutely. hollywood does dramatization, we all know that. but when they take the artistic license we are talk about to the service of emotional truth, makes you feel like it is very difficult to get out of iran. i have no problem with that. what django does, it makes it very difficult by adding things like mad dinko fighting which we know these people are under attack, physically and spiritually and every other way, i have no problem with that. that's what hollywood does. take a story and make you feel it.

that's what "django" does. that's what "lingcoln" does. "argo." and the filmmakers are very candid about that in each of the cases. ben affleck knows that there wasn't a tarmac chase at the end of that situation. he wanted to heighten the dramatic effect and give you the sense of tension that those people actually did feel. and we all understand there's a distance between art and reality. >> when people, jd, watch oscars sunday night, and you have all of these films that really emanate from some historic and political place, what are we saying to the american public? >> i think we are saying two things. one we were saying these are very interesting important movies and popular movies that did well. so it says the american people whatever you might think or actually interested, in politics, and in in their society and how those things

interact. the other thing i think we are saying is that public is sophisticated enough to distinguish between drama and reality. i don't think anyone will walk away feeling misled. also we can can talk about how politics directly impacted these films. "zero dark thirty" was impacted by washington. we will talk about the oscar season for a long time. >> i think a little bit of that, i think a lot of people feel like because of the election of obama, that they are able to deal with heavy racial issues because they feel there is a separation, that was them and this is us. so now we can take on a movie like slavery and feel like we are not being indicted. like the movie "help" embraced by a lot of people. we might find it disgusting but -- >> i wanted to know where would -- >> i agree. i agree. i wanted to see -- i wanted to see some black people in "lincoln." all of the black people are in the back, almost just dealing

with the situation. not having agency trying to make changes. when we are dealing with -- post war moments. we got rid of bin laden. we are out of afghanistan. we feel like we are out of iraq. then we can deal with "zero dark thirty." >> j.d., i heard you -- >> that's right. i would add to that. it is a long time in hollywood. you have to to go back to the 70s to see the diversity of movies hitting hard topics. hollywood is not perfect, like american society isn't perfect. it doesn't necessary ily reflec exactly accurately the reality of our lives. but these are bold movies and i think they signal a promising future like we have been through something politically. we have been through something economically and we are toward handle serious topics. everything is not shiny happy all the time. >> you have everything, a lot of things that were out there and they succeeded.

>> and even your show from "silver lining play book", which a lot of americans are dealing with. hollywood has serious issues this time. but i don't know if we can make too much about that as a friend of mine in hollywood. why do we have two slavery pictures at the same time? it is probably a coincidence. >> and i don't know whether or not we see the diversity in hollywood enough to really not also sometime look at hollywood and say, i mean, red tails, look at the story told about what he today go through to get that story out. so i think that yes, you're right, america is not perfect. hollywood is not perfect. i'm gl glad to see some of the themes out but i would like to see a line drawn, about what is entertainment, and what is documentary. at the same time, people will look at box office. it is a balance they are trying to strike, j.d., that we need to try and perfect. >> you know, absolutely.